Moscow is sending a total of 200,000 metric tons of grain to Africa for the consignment to be distributed freely among six countries on the continent.
The Russian Minister of Agriculture Dmitry Patrushev stated that the Eastern Europe country has just completed its initiative of shipping 200,000 metric tons of free grain, mostly wheat, to six African countries, as promised by President Vladimir Putin in July 2023.
Russia has thus shipped 50,000 tons each to Somalia and the Central African Republic and 25,000 tons each to Mali, Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe and Eritrea.
At least, this is what the Russian Agricultural Minister Dmitry Patrushev reported to President Putin during a meeting, whose agenda was transcribed on the Kremlin’s website.
Putin had promised to deliver free grain to the six countries at a summit with African leaders in July, soon after Moscow withdrew from a deal that had allowed Ukraine to ship grain from its Black Sea ports despite the war Russia has been waging.
The deal, known as the Black Sea grain initiative, had helped lower prices on the global market.
However, President Putin argued that it was failing to get supplies to the countries that are in the most urgent need of food supply.
Russia and Ukraine are the global leaders in wheat production.
“After the Russia-Africa summit, we have been maintaining relations with various African countries and building cooperation,” Patrushev informed President Putin.
“As a result, we are now able to deliver this volume of wheat to these countries quite quickly.”
The Minister also told Putin that Russia expects to export up to 70 million metric tons of grain within the country’s current 2023-2024 agricultural years.
As it happens, during the previous farming season, Russia managed to ship out 66 million tons worth of grain valued at nearly USD 15.5 Million, according to the Minister.
Kenya was among the beneficiaries of the Russian grain offer, in 2023.
The 2023-2024 agricultural year started July 1, 2023, and lasts until June 30, 2024.
This Reuters article appearing in The Tanzania Times, was written by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne and Edited by Josie Kao.
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